LUBBOCK - Rice sophomore Blake Fox has been named one of three finalists for the National College Baseball Hall of Fame's Pitcher of the Year Award, the organization announced from its headquarters in Lubbock, Texas, on Friday (June 13).

Fox, Brendan McCurry of Oklahoma State and Aaron Nola of LSU, are the three finalists for the College Baseball Hall of Fame's Pitcher of the Year, sponsored by Diamond. The award will be presented during the organization's annual Night of Champions on June 28 in Lubbock.

"Each of these players was instrumental in his team's regular-season and postseason success," said Raymond Richardson, Pitcher of the Year Award co-chair. "They maintained their impressive numbers throughout the season, and they're going to make it difficult to choose a winner."

Fox emerged as the staff ace for the Owls while posting an undefeated 12-0 record with a 1.46 ERA. He is fifth in the nation (and led Conference USA) in victories, and is 13th among all Division I pitchers (and second in the league) in ERA. The Houston native won 12 of his 15 starts, of which four the Owls went on to win with a shutout. In addition to non-conference wins over national powers Stanford and TCU, Fox posted an 8-0 mark in C-USA regular season. He pitched into the seventh inning of a game 14 times, with a season long of 8.1. frames at Tulane. Fox held opposing hitters to a composite .236 batting average and twice struck out eight in a single game.

The left-hander has been named a 2014 first team all-America by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers (NCBWA), and a second team All-America selection by Collegiate Baseball. He is the first Owl pitcher to win 12 games in a single year since 2006, but this season is only part of the story. Fox is in fact a perfect 18-0 with a 1.97 ERA in his collegiate career dating back to his freshman season of 2013.